Piano-violin



C. R; FLEMING.

PIANO VIOLIN. APPLICATION FILED NOV- s. 1915. RENEWED JAN. 15,1920.

1,344,497. Patented June 22, 1920. J 4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Tag. 1.

C. R. FLEMING.

PIANO VIOLIN.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 5, 191.5. RENEWED JAN. 15, 1920.

Patented June 22, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. R. FLEMING.

PIANO VIOLIN- APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5, 1915- RENEWED. JAN. 15', 1920- 1,344,497. Patented June 22, 1920.

- 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. R. FLEMING.

PIANO VIOLIN. APPucATlowmED NOV. 5, 1915. RENEWED JAN. 15.1920

I 9 u 1 a 2 CHARLES R. FLEMING, 0F

HOBERG, missounrnssrenonor ONE-THIRD TO oscnn J DOSS, or HOBERG, MISSOURI.

PIANO-VIOLIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1920.

Application 'filed November 5, 1915, Serial No. 59,798; Renewed January 15, 1920. Serial No 351 561 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES R. FLEMING, citizen of United States, residing at Hoberg, in the county of Lawrence and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in P1ano-V1ol1ns, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanisms for operating upon stringed instrumentsto produce musical tones, and has for its primary object to generally simplify and improve devices of the type set forth.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character set forth which embodies a plurality of stringed instruments which'ma'y be of various sizes, shapes, and types, associated with each of which is a rotatable bow 'memberfor contact with the strings thereof and which embodies im provedmeans for selectively actuating the various bow members to produce with their respective strings musical sound and chords.

A further object is to so arrange the operating mechanism of the instruments that the strings of both-instruments may be selectively fingered and bowed to sound chords and other combinations of musical sounds. v

Another object resides in the particular mechanism for operating the fingering arms and the bowing mechanisms In the drawings annexed hereto and form-' of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig. 1. a

Fig.8 is a sectional view on the line 88 of Fig. 1. f

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1.

Fig. '10 is. a sectional view on the line 10-10 of Fig. 1. I,

'Fig. 11 is a view,.' in perspective, of the means for adjusting the treadle cables.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view on 12512 of Fig. 11, and, the hue *lg. 13 is a sectional view on 13 13 of Fig. 2. the hue Flg. 14 is a detailed perspective view of the bow wheel and its associated parts.

The mechanism comprises a case A conslsting of the back 1, base 2, sides 3 and cover 4 hmged at 5. On the back 1 are clamps 6 which engage the body of a cello B and hold the same in a suitable vertical position. A second violin C is similarly held by clamps 7.

On one side 3, of the case A, is mounted a pedestal 8 indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and which carries an electric motor lllustrated in Fig. 2. Through the medium of a belt 6 this motor drives a pulley 9 on a short shaft 10 journaled in bearings 11, said bearings being carried by uprights 12 mounted on base 2.

-The shaft 10 also carries a pulley 13 of smaller diameter which, by means of a belt 1 1, drives a larger pulley 15 on a ack shaft 16, sa d jack shaft being mounted in bear- 1ngs'17 carried by the back 1 of the case A. The jack shaft 16 carries, at one end, a pulley 18 which by means of abelt 19 drives a pulley 20 on a shaft 21 journaled in bearings 22 and 23 supported on one side 3 of case A and the bearing 24: carried by the bracket 25 on back 1. The shaft 21 has fixed thereto a bevel gear 26 which meshes with a similar bevel gear 27 carried by the vertical shaft 28 carrying a bevel disk bow wheel 29 of felt or similar material. The shaft 28 is'journaled in bushing 30 carried by an arm 31 which has an extension 32 engaging one end of an angularly disposed arm projecting forwardly from the upper extremity of one arm of the bell-crank lever 33; the other arm of the said lever being connected with a cord 34 trained over pulleys 35 in the base of the case A and connected with treadle 36 fulcrumed at 37 and which, upon rocking, moves the vertical shaft 28 and the bow wheel 29 forwardly so that the latter engages the strings of the violin, C and, by reason of its rotation, vibrates said strings to produce a musical sound. To provide for engagement of the bowwheel 29 with the proper strings of. the violin C the shaft 21 is made laterally shiftable along with. shaft '28 and such shifting is accomplished by lever 38 having a bifurcated end 39 which engages shaft 21 between two collars 10, said lever being pivoted at 41 and having its lower end connected with rod 12 which, in turn, connects with lever 43 fulcrumed at 1 1 on member 15 and having its forward end connected at 16 with the toe piece 417.

Supported in bearings 18 and 4:9 carried by the U-shaped bracket 50 secured to the base 2, and also in bearings 51 and 52 is a laterally extending shaft 53 carrying a pulley 54ldriven from shaft 16 by means of a pulley 55 and belt 56, the pulley 54; being mounted on a sleeve 57 which has key engagement with the shaft and will permit the latter to be laterally shifted for purposes to be hereinafter set forth. Such lateral shifting of the shaft 53 is accomplished by means of the lever 58 pivoted at 59 to a bracket 60 carried by the back 2 of the case and guided in the slot 61 cut in the bracket 62. This lever 58 is for engagement by the leg or knee of a person and carries the angular arm 63 pivoted thereto at es and provided with a bifurcated end 65 engaging between collars 60 on shaft 53; thus as the lever 58 is shifted to the right or left the shaft 53 will be correspondingly shifted but will still remain in driven relation with respect to the shaft 16. The shaf 53 has loosely mounted thereon the members 67 and 68 in which is journaled a vertical shaft 69 provided at one end with a bevel gear 70 meshing with a bevel gear 71 carried by the shaft 53, whereas the other end of the shaft 59 carries the bow wheel 7 2 similar to the wheel 29 which operates upon the strings of the cello B. It is also necessary, as in the case of the bow wheel 29, to rock the shaft 69 so as to bring the said bow wheel 72 into and out of engagement with the strings of the cello. This is accomplished by loosely mounting the lever 73 on the shaft 69 and providing the same with a peculiarly bent arm 74 one end of which is connected with the lever 7 3 and the other end of which slides through an eye 7 5 on a rock lever 76 which may be rocked back and forth by means of the treadle 36 supported at 37 as before stated and having connected therewith the cable 79 also connected with the rock lever 76, said treadle being trained over pulleys 80 and the treadle being retained in its normal position by the spring 81.

For fingering the strings on the second violin fingering arms are provided in connection with a bracket 82 in which is mounted a shaft 83 substantially parallel with the neck 84 of the violin G. The shaft 83 accommodates the four fingering arms 85, 86, 87 and 87 the rear ends of which are pressed by means of springs 88 attached at one end to said fingering arm and at the other end to the back 2 of the case A so as to normally maintain the fingering arms in a raised position'out of engagement with the strings of the violin. The forward ends of the fingering arms 85, 86, 87 and 87 are provided with pads 89 for engagement with the strings, and it will be understood that each fingering bar is so located as to operate upon a designated string. Immediately adjacent the pad 89 and between the same and the shaft 83, each arm carries an eyelet 90 in which is secured one end of a cord 91 trained over pulleys 92 and through the medium of which the fingering arms are operated by means of the pedals 93. However, the fingering arms are'inter-connected by means of shorter flexible members 91 which permit combinations of the fingering arms to be op erated.

A similar arrangement operates the fingering arms 95, 96, 97 and 98 of the cello B. These fingering arms are supported on a shaft 99 carried by the bracket 100 and are spring pressed by means of springs 101. However this arrangement differs from that operating upon the strings of the second violin by reason of the fact that each separate fingering arm is connected with cords 102 carried over pulleys 103 and secured at the other end to pedals 104;, 105, 106 and 107 respectively.

In order to properly tension the various cords connected with the treadles and pedals, each of these carries a U-shaped member 108 fastened at 109 and carrying the member 110 adapted to wind the cord therein to tighten the same. After tightening the cord, the member 110 is carried by the thumb screw 11 in boss 112.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The operator seats himself before the device with his right foot on the treadle 36 and the toe resting in the member 17, then the shank of the operators limb will be disposed in the member 58. The left foot is used to operate the various treadles 104:, 105, 106 and 107 and the two pedals 93. The motor of the device is then started which imparts rotative movement to the two bow wheels 29 and 72. To produce the various musical notes the operator then fingers the strings of the two violins by changing the position of his foot on the treadles and pedals and causes the vibration of the various strings by moving his toe and shank to the right or left to move the bow wheels 29 and 72 and then depresses the treadle 36 to cause the bows to contact with the strings. In this way various harmonious combinations of musical notes may be produced; and if the operator so desires he may combine the sounds thus producedwith those with which he himself may produce on a violin operated in the usual manner since his hands are left entirely free.

While, in the foregoing I have described one specific embodiment of my invention, it

is to be understood that I do not limit myself to such embodiment but may resort to any practical modifications which fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim i 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a stringed musical instrument, a power shaft mounted for sliding movement adjacent said instrument, a bracket carried by said shaft, a bow shaft mounted in said bracket, a driving connec tion between said power and bow shafts, a bow wheel on said bow shaft for engagement with the strings of said instrument, means for sliding said power shaft, and means for moving said bow wheel into and out of engagement with the strings of said instrument.

2. In a device of the class described, the

on said bow shaft, means for moving said how shaft toward and away from said strings, and means for sliding said power shaft.

3. In a device of the class described,the combination with a stringed instrument, of a longitudinally movable power shaft disposed at right angles to the strings of said instrument, a bracket carried by said power shaft, a bow shaft rotatably mounted in said bracket disposed adjacent to and substantially parallel with said strings, a bow wheel on said bow shaft, a power connection between said bow and power shaft, means for moving said power shaft longitudinally, a lever, a connection between said lever and said bracket, the said lever being adapted to move said bracket toward and away from said strings, and a treadle for moving said lever.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES R. FLEMING.

Witnesses:

OARLos COPELAND, OSCAR J. Doss. 

